Pfizer And CCFA Collaborate For IBD Research
Pfizer announced that it has linked with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) through its Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) to advance research in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Under the agreement, initial research projects will be jointly funded and will center on studying validated targets in IBD, specifically in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The research studies will support up to four jointly chosen, small molecule projects over the next two years.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, estimated to affect 1.4 million patients in the U.S. The diseases are painful inflammatory conditions in which the immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract and sets up chronic inflammation. Up to 75 percent of patients with Crohn’s disease and 25 percent of patients with ulcerative colitis will need surgery over the long term, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Caren Heller, CCFA's CSO, said, “We are pleased to have this opportunity to collaborate with CTI to help identify and advance potential new treatments and therapies for people with IBD. CCFA is dedicated to delivering tangible improvements in the treatment of IBD and helping create better outcomes for patients. By harnessing resources and expertise from both of our organizations, we aim to speed the development of better treatments for millions of patients with IBD.” The partnership with Pfizer is the institute’s first joint funding collaboration with a pharmaceutical firm.
Dr. Anthony J. Coyle, CSO at Pfizer's CTI, said that the company unit depends on collaborative effort to develop drugs faster for treatment of disease. “Combining CTI's scientific resources with CCFA's deep knowledge of IBD and network of investigators, we aim to be well-positioned to pursue more targeted medicines for IBD patients.”
Pfizer has recently been driving efforts in IBD research, with another collaboration forged this month with genetics company 23andMe. Pfizer partnered with 23andMe to enroll 10,000 people with IBD and examine DNA from donated samples. The allies said they hope the project will yield meaningful genetic data which could be used to improve an existing therapy or develop a new treatment for IBD.